February 13, 2010

Rain or shine...a 3 day weekend can't be wasted when there are baby chicks comin! And what a day it was! We rented a huge backhoe, and a hydraulic auger...
A little history... Last year we hired a wonderful guy to do some clearing and to trench out our river bed...in the process he hit our water line and a power line going to our barn... (1-800-call before you dig let us down!!!) So he dug us a new trench to re-run our water and our electrical. Long story short, he ran the wrong size cable for the amperage of the breaker to the barn, so we are having to run it again. So that's why the backhoe, and the auger is for the posts for the chicken run... So my mom and step-dad Super Steve came over to help and Super Steve offered to run the backhoe...(something about I couldn't drive it without a helmet...) and Patty and I, and Mariah, (Jun), my 16 year old daughter, ran the auger...Everyone was dressed in rain gear. Well, we were bad-asses...I don't know how else to put it. The 3 of us girls knocked out the holes for the chicken coop in about 10 minutes. We decided to tackle the future goat pen, and continued to push the 8 foot long auger into the woods. After 2 hours, and hitting several rocks and roots we completed the goat pen which is probably almost a quarter of an acre! We made quite a team! Mariah started and stopped the machine, Patty controlled the auger bit and Mariah and I held the machine steady... In the mean time Super Steve trenched through the creek bed, and was well on his way to the barn... We took a break for some coffee and some of my own lasagna, and Steve headed back down to the barn. We couldn't really continue with post holes for the future "berry cage" without getting in the way of the backhoe, so I went down to run the cable and to help Super Steve fill in the trench...Also throwing any large rocks I found into the riverbed... What a mess!!! By this time the dirt had turned into mud and it took a little longer than expected. I could have sold tickets for mud wrestling... After filling and grooming as well as possible, Steve and I came back up the the house to join everyone in watching some of the Olympics. My mom also cleaned out my microwave which was hugely appreciated!!! Every little bit helps. We went to bed with a huge sense of accomplishment... Thanks everyone for such a productive day!!!